The Perfect Pair
by Sahara Storm
Summary: [Oneshot, JamesLily] In which Sirius and James are – per usual – up to no good, Lily catches them redhanded, and James utilises his superior charming skills.


**Title:** The Perfect Pair

**Fandom:** Harry Potter

**Pairing:** James/Lily

**Rating: **PG

**Word Count: **1,728

**Summary/Description: **In which Sirius and James are – per usual – up to no good, Lily catches them red-handed, and James utilises his superior charming skills.

**Warning/Spoilers:** I'm pretty sure that there are spoilers, but I'm not sure for which book; GOF, OOTF or HBP. Heh, heh. Yes, I suck, I know. Oh, and there's some OOC, too, I think. And yay, fluff.

**A/N:** I read the books quite a while ago, so I might be a little rusty on a few details, like their characteristics, or the general timeline. Forgive me if I make any glaring mistakes. This is my first time writing for this pairing; this fandom, even.

**Dedication: **For Mayra-san/Dreamscene17-san. :-)

**Disclaimer:** I could never come up with something as huge and complicated as HP. It'd make my head hurt _way_ too much. Kudos to you, JKR.

* * *

"Potter! Black! What in the world are you two doing?" 

The redhead stalked towards her fellow Seventh Years, the both of whom were trying unsuccessfully to hide the two First Years behind their backs.

"Wotcher, Evans," Sirius said casually.

"Why, hullo, Evans," James said with a rakish grin. "Fancy meeting you here. I do believe you're beginning to follow me around, y'know." He winked slyly.

Lily glared at her sort-of-kind-of-not-really boyfriend.

"Potter, we're in the middle of the Gryffindor common room, you great git. Now, what are you doing with those two First Years?"

Sirius painted a bemused look on his face.

"First Years? What First Years?"

Lily scowled at his pretend-density.

"The ones behind your backs, Black. And what's that in your hands?" The Head Girl peered closer.

"Nothing," both boys said promptly, looking far too innocent to be up to any good at all. The auburn-haired girl squared her eyes.

"Give it," she said in a tone that warranted no disobedience. James and Sirius glanced at each other, gauging their odds against the Head Girl. After some time, they brought their hands from round their backs with some reluctance, guilty grins in full effect. Clasped in each of them was a Chocolate Frog.

"See, Evans, just harmless chocolate," the messy-haired boy said, pushing it closer for her inspection. The amphibian blinked, and burped.

Slim eyebrows rose.

"If this is just 'harmless chocolate', then I'm a Bogart," the girl said shortly, swiping one of the confectionaries off of James' hand. "Are you telling me that these haven't been charmed or transfigured in any way?"

"I swear it," the Animagus said immediately in a solemn, sober voice. "I swear it on my mother's grave."

Lily cut her eyes at him in annoyance.

"Your mother isn't dead, Black."

Sirius screwed his lips to the side in thought.

"No, she isn't, is she? Pity."

Lily rolled her eyes. Still glaring at them both, she pulled out her wand. Giving the chocolate amphibian an experimental tap, she muttered a magic word under her breath. Nothing happened.

"See?" both boys chorused.

The redhead ignored them, and tried another spell; a more complicated one. This time, the Chocolate Frog writhed and wriggled, melted and squirmed into another shape entirely, its colour and material also changing. By the time it was finished, it was no longer a kinetic confectionary, but a tall glass of vile-looking, puke green goo.

James and Sirius gasped in tandem, and did very bad jobs of looking flabbergasted.

"Well, would you look at that!"

"I tell you, the things they're doing to Chocolate Frogs these days…"

The withering looks that the Head Girl directed at them shushed them in due course. She beckoned to the two small eleven year old boys who were half-hidden in the folds of the older boys' cloaks. They came out reluctantly, knees shaking visibly, looking up at Lily with fearful eyes. However, there was a kind look on the green-eyed girl's visage.

"Off to your dorm with you," she said softly, ruffling their hair. "And think twice before you ever attempt to accept anything from these two pranksters again, okay?"

The boys nodded vigorously before scampering off in the direction of their dorm room.

Lily pivoted on her heel, and turned back to the other wizards. After chucking the goop into the fireplace, she frowned fiercely at the two dissidents. They grinned. A muscle in her cheek flexed erratically; she looked ready to explode.

"Of all the irresponsible, puerile…" she began.

"Oh, come off it," Sirius interrupted her flippantly. "It's not like the potion would have done them any harm if they'd taken it." He smirked. "They'd have just gotten a very unpleasant surprise, that's all."

"Yeah, Evans." James shrugged. "It was just a little joke."

The redhead cut her eyes at him.

"Little jokes like that should be left to the Fourth and Fifth Years, Potter. Don't you know what it means to be in Seventh Year?"

The Animagus put a finger to his lips, and assumed a pensive pose.

"Hmm… not too sure, but I think it means that we've just left Sixth Year. What do you think, Prongs?"

Bright emerald eyes flashed with anger.

"Can't you ever be serious, Black?" she demanded, planting fists on slim hips.

James and Sirius glanced at each other. Lily felt a bad pun coming her way.

"Don't even say it," she growled.

Sirius snapped his mouth closed, and had the grace to look a tad sheepish. Somewhat mollified, Lily redirected her wrath.

"And you, Potter." She threw her hands up in a manifestation of her exasperation. "Merlin knows that you should know better. You're the bloody Head Boy, and the bloody term has just started! What kind of example are you setting?"

James grimaced, and scuffed the ground with his foot.

"Ah, Evans, don't be mad… It was just…"

"Don't be mad? Don't be mad? I'm afraid it's too bloody late for that! I can't quite believe you… the start of the term… of all the juvenile…" She paused in her mutterings, running a hand through her curly red locks as she shook her head. "You know, I don't know what Dumbledore had in his head when he made you the Head Boy, and I don't know what I had in _my_ head when I started going round with you!"

James winced, and sweat-dropped. Sirius began to look distinctly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat forcefully.

"What's that?" he said, very, very loudly. Two pairs of eyes shot to him. The Animagus' head was cocked to the side, as if listening out for something. "Is that Remus I hear?" he continued with the same amount of unnecessary volume. "Is he calling me, and telling me to come RIGHT, RIGHT **_NOW_**? To help him with something OF **_EXTREME_** **IMPORTANCE**?And that I must not delay IN THE **_SLIGHTEST_**? Okay Moony, I'm on my way!" His gaze skirted to the faced-off witch and wizard.

"Erm… gotta go," he said, and made his escape.

Lily stared blankly at the stairs leading to the Seventh Year boys' dormitory before resuming her glare at her sort-of-kind-of-not-really boyfriend. Their eyes locked, green intensity meeting hangdog-grey. James tried grinning at her; she didn't return it.

"You know," she said quietly, "you promised that you were going to be serious this term."

"Oh, Lily, – " The use of her first name wasn't even a conscious decision; it just slipped out, and managed to sound strangely like an endearment, wrapped around his tongue. " – I am. We were just having a bit of fun."

She heaved a sigh, shaking her head, and folding her arms across her chest. Her ginger tresses swayed.

"Don't you ever think about anything other than just having fun?"

James looked mildly offended.

"Of course I do!" he cried, a touch indignantly. "I think about Quidditch." A pause for thought. "And you, of course. And more Quidditch. And you. And then Quidditch." Another pause, in which his mouth curved upward into a jaunty grin. "But mostly… you."

Lily felt a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, but tamped down on it, and frowned instead.

"Trying to charm your way out of trouble, are you Potter?" She tried, and failed at maintaining the stern look that she had assumed.

Grey eyes glinted merrily.

"Why, yes, yes I am." He swept closer to her with one long stride. "Is it working?"

She dodged the arm that tried to snake around her waist.

"No, it isn't." And as an afterthought, "You prat."

A look of mock-woe descended onto his features even as he lunged playfully at her again.

"Well, then, I guess I'll just have to try harder, won't I?"

"Yes, you will," she agreed as he finally caught her about the wrist. "A bloody damn sight harder."

He circled her in his strong arms, lean and muscled from his training. Looking her straight into her virid green eyes with utter seriousness, he solemnly intoned,

"I, James Potter, do hereby declare that I am a git, and a prat, and am completely undeserving of the company of Lily Evans, who should have kept on telling me to bugger off as she had been doing since I first became infatuated with her. I do now pronounce that I shall henceforth carry out my duties as Head Boy with all the Seriousness and Severity as Snape with a wand up his arse, – " Lily poked him in the ribs at that, and stifled a giggle. "– and shall perpetrate no more fiendish pranks – all of which were Padfoot's ideas in any case; I was entirely innocent of all…"

Lily poked him again, harder, bringing a halt to his harangue. She was chuckling softly.

"Alright, you, I've had enough of your blithering." She shook her head, as if already berating herself for what she was going to do. "You promise, then?"

He nodded immediately.

"I solemnly swear."

She sighed.

"Alright then, Potter, you're forgiven. You're officially back in my not-so-good graces." She shook her head once more. "Though I can't imagine why."

James tsked.

"My dear Head Girl, I'm afraid it's because you are simply no match for my superior charming skills."

Grinning, he swooped down and grabbed a quick peck on the lips before she could bat him away in annoyance. There was a glint of humour in her eyes, however, and James knew he had succeeded in luring her out of her anger.

"I still can't imagine what made Professor Dumbledore appoint us Head Boy and Girl; _together_," she mused, looping her arms around his neck.

James shrugged.

"Dunno. I suppose it's because we make the perfect pair. My dashing good looks, your loveliness; my sporting skills, your brains; my carefree attitude, your… less than carefree attitude."

He dutifully accepted the tap she gifted him with, eyes twinkling merrily.

"Aren't you glad, though?" he continued. "We can get together and snog the afternoon away under the pretence of having a meeting or summat."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"You incorrigible prat." Even as she said it, her lips were quirking into a grin that mirrored his own.

He winked at her, and stole another kiss, just because he could. Lily didn't even bother pretending to mind this time, as she reached up and pulled his head down to press their lips flush against each other's.

* * *

**A/N: **Let me know what you thought of it. Constructive criticism is my crack. I love it like rabid bunnies love sex. XD 


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